


Tyrantly Ever After

by LoneSardine



Category: Disgaea (Games), Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten
Genre: After I put them through a whole prinnyload of drama, F/M, Laying my cards on the table here, M/M, Mentions of Artina/Flonne and Etna/Flonne, Multi, Post-Canon, Sardines (obviously), Spoilers, These three are going to get poly, They all deserve a happy ending together, eventually, more tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:20:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29062731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoneSardine/pseuds/LoneSardine
Summary: Feelings can't be suppressed as easily as Valvatorez would like to insist, even when they're disturbing his current relationship with Fenrich and the platonic one he believes he wants to have with Artina.Though she is far more concerned with potentially having lost God's favour and her own faith in Him after stopping the horrors of Fear the Great, alongside Nemo’s return as a prinny.And Fenrich is just trying to get the promise fulfilled so he can get rid of all these damn problems.[A post-game D4 story combining and continuing Fenrich and Artina's epilogues]
Relationships: Arutina | Artina | Vulcanus/Barubatoze | Valvatorez, Arutina | Artina | Vulcanus/Fenrihhi | Fenrich, Barubatoze | Valvatorez/Fenrihhi | Fenrich, Unrequited Arutina | Artina | Vulcanus/Nemo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. An Ending Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> I love Val, Fen and Artina but I hate how Fenrich's antagonism towards Artina makes me feel like I need to pick a side. So let's see if we can move the three of them past that, plus examine some of the unhealthy aspects of Valfen and Valtina along the way. Oh, and give Artina some character development that doesn't revolve solely around male characters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set after the Fenrich ending (which is obliquely mentioned at the start)

It was quite the stiff competition indeed which of the lass’ many annoying traits was her worst, but right now Fenrich could most definitely say it was her ridiculously idiotic persistence on romance, specifically between his Lord and that thief angel still hanging around Hades.

The day of their return from that final battle, no one had anything on their mind but the sardine party Valvatorez threw and the terrified thrill of having made it through alive. After the party, Fenrich had retired alone with his Lord for a particularly important conversation, before a long and undisturbed sleep.

The following few days had been so consumed by dispatching the newly-graduated prinnies and sorting out the results of the recent battles they’d still barely had a chance to rest.

But by the day after that, “They’re free now! Why aren’t they doing anything?” the lass loudly complained.

“Doing what?” At least the lad was doing something useful and sharpening his scythe blade.

“Like kissing! Holding hands! Even just talking!” Fenrich didn’t want to listen, but as he was stuck going over the inventories with their Rosen Queen Co. representative while the children were slacking off, he had little choice. “They’ve got the chance to advance their relationship finally, and yet nothing’s happening!”

“Have you considered that maybe they just don’t want to?” Emizel rightly argued.

The lass shook her head, tutting him as if he was the fool here. “There’s no way they don’t have feelings for each other, even you must be able to see that.”

“Well, maybe,” he admitted. “But Valvatorez isn’t a coward, and neither is Artina. If they wanted to talk about things, or act on their feelings, they would.” Smart lad. He truly would make a great president to install once that other fool was dealt with.

It took the lass a good moment to think up a reply to that, only further evidence. “They must just think each other is too busy or something,” she lamely excused. “Desco!”

“Yes, Big Sis!”

“It’s up to us, as ever, to sort things out around here. Come on!” Good, she was leaving. Fenrich exhaled some of the tension from his body, trying yet again to focus on the numbers before him.

“Coming! All is for Big Sis!” Ugh, how could that phrase be so annoying and yet cute at the same time?

Emizel just sighed, polishing up his scythe. “Women really are terrifying...”

~DOOD~

The thing about stupidity was that it could confound intelligence just by being so, well, stupid.

Fenrich had fruitlessly trekked around most of Hades catching only the past scent of his Lord before shuddering to a halt, “She wouldn’t have...!” and switching to scenting out that particular ‘unprinny’ smell, one that was so fittingly like a prinny that had stuck around long past its use-by-date.

He panicked to find it coming from the corridor to his and Lord Valvatorez’s bedrooms, then growled at the sight of those three meddlesome pups all clustered around Valvatorez’s mostly closed door, spying no doubt through a crack. Fearing the worst though, he said nothing as he stalked up behind them, ignoring their fright as they realised his arrival, to still at hearing his Lord say, “I’m being serious too,” in such an amiably honest tone.

The thief angel’s laugh almost made him bolt, “You really are Mr. Weirdo,” but he found himself rooted. “I’m glad we got to meet again...” Her own tone was just as honest, not one that thought anyone else was eavesdropping on this.

“Likewise. Now, I finally get to keep the promise I made back then.” Well, it didn’t sound like more than satisfaction at that idea at least, like anything more than friendship.

“Yes. I ended up making you wait 400 years.”

Fenrich recognised that sound of a cape being thrown out too well. “Right. As I promised, I shall only quench my thirst after I take you down to the depths of despair.” That damn promise again... But at least it seemed to be his Lord’s only concern in regards to her. “Hmhm. Now, how shall I go about this? This will be most interesting.” He even sounded playfully excited at the prospect, back to his usual self; that was something Fenrich could stretch himself to permit, he supposed, if it got this all over and-

“...No. There’s no need to do that to me.”

What? “What do you mean by that?” Lord Valvatorez spoke his confusion for him.

“I’ve already seen the depths of despair.” Her voice had taken on a new, slight sadness, “When you were dragged inside of Fear the Great... I thought I had lost you,” one that grew genuine as she continued. “Your death... My knees were trembling with fear just thinking about it...” Fenrich felt his own mouth had gone dry, staring into the middle distance at the floor. “All I could do was stand there, trying not to scream out loud.”

“Artina...” He didn’t sound sad for her, or surprised, only as if he didn’t know what to say.

“...You have kept your promise. Now, go ahead... take my blood.” The offer was gentle but serious. “And please regain your power, Tyrant Valvatorez... My Mr. Vampire...” Fenrich couldn’t have said that without the same joy at the long-awaited prospect either. But that little fondness she ended with, that she knew how special that name was between them-

“They’re gonna do it!” the lass hissed.

“I can’t see! Let me see!” Emizel fussed.

Fenrich couldn’t see either, but the thought of what might be happening had his stomach churning as much as knowing. He dared to step closer too, peering in above the children’s heads.

“Artina...” Lord Valvatorez was hesitating, considering.

But she was nothing but plain about it, her neck bared side-on to him with a smile.

“Looks like you lost, Fenfen.”

He really hated how viscerally he reacted to that word, the cold pain that sunk through his body to settle at the bottom of his stomach. It churned and thrashed like the tail of a cockatrice watching the two inside so close and alone, agonisingly waiting for Lord Valvatorez to make his move-

“No!”

The clear sound of a cape being thrown out jarred them all out of the moment.

Valvatorez’s fist now resting on his hip, “The idea of my death may well have brought you the fear I promised,” he said in his stern, I’m-talking-about-promises voice, “but in that case the one who brought you to such depths of despair was Nemo and Fear the Great, not I! Therefore,” There went the cape again, “I have still to fulfil my promise and shall not drink your blood!”

Fenrich’s churning lightened, but only into something conflictingly unsettled.

Far better than, “What total cra-! Ahh!” the kids, whose outburst of frustration sent them tumbling over one another and into the door, spilling them through into Valvatorez’s room and rendering the game well and truly up.

The two inside had startled back, but it rightly didn’t take long at all for Valvatorez to be looming over his new intruders, “What in Hades is the meaning of this?! What are you all doing out here?!” angry where Artina was only uncomfortably embarrassed.

Fuka was first to her feet, one of which found its new footing on Emizel’s back to sharp protest. “I could ask you the same thing – What the hell are you two doing in here?!” she met him head-on. “I went to all this trouble to get you two some alone time and this is all I get as thanks?! Drink her blood, kiss her, anything!”

Artina stepped up now, “Miss Fuka, are you still trying to get Mr. Vampire and I into a relationship?” at Valvatorez’s side but far more understanding than his pointed, little scowl.

“Someone needs to,” Fuka huffed. “It’s so obvious you have feelings for each other, yet you aren’t doing anything even now the final battle’s over!”

“Big Sis is right!” Desco lifted herself up on her tail with a cheer. “If a final boss gets defeated, the hero and his love interest are meant to sneak off from the celebration party to have their first kiss which makes the credits roll!”

Fenrich couldn’t help a harsh, little sigh. It attracted Valvatorez’s less-than-pleased attention his way briefly, but not the ire he was reserving for the children at least.

“Miss Fuka, Miss Desco,” Artina addressed, even crouching forward slightly, “real life isn’t like that. It’s more complicated-”

“No, it’s not!” Fuka pointed sharply. “You two just make it complicated when it doesn’t need to be!” Before they could try and talk any sense into her, “You two like each other, don’t you? Answer me!”

Sharing a brief glance two parents might, Valvatorez turned back and nodded. “Artina is my ally.”

Artina crossed one leg in front of her, hands behind her back. “Angels aren’t meant to socialise with demons, but Mr. Vampire isn’t like other demons, so I think I can bend the rules a little.”

“Not like that! Romantically! You two _like_ -like each other, don’t try to deny it!”

Fenrich watched how his Lord flustered, losing his hard scowl for an uncomfortable expression; it said enough by itself. That feeling inside him churned again but it felt numb, resigned.

Artina’s expression did shift, but it remained calm. “Miss Fuka, whatever someone’s feelings may or may not be, there is more than simply that involved in whether two people want to be in a relationship or not.”

“Say whatever you want,” Fuka persisted, “but I can’t believe it in this case when Valzy so obviously wants to get it on with you.”

Fenrich spluttered as inelegantly as his Lord’s backwards staggering. “Wh-What in Hades is malfunctioning in that insane brain of yours, Lass?!” Valvatorez objected, trying to regain his composure.

Emizel struggled out from under her foot, “Y-Yeah, seriously!” looking a little pale and terrified as he edged away from Fuka to dust himself off.

“Oh, come on!” Fuka said. “You’re all blush-y and stammer-y around her, and you get all awkward like you’re trying to hide it, but that just makes it more obvious!”

While Artina was able to find a fond amusement about it, Valvatorez could only sigh, covering his face. “That is because,” he began distastefully, forcing the words out, “I... The idea I might harbour such an un-demon-like attachment threatens the fabric of the friendship between Artina and I; that is far too valuable to let these maudlin discussions of ‘feelings’ and ‘romance’ potentially damage.”

“Mr. Vampire...” She moved happily towards him, even if he couldn’t quite look at her right now. Fenrich found himself unsure whom he could bear to look at right now either.

“What the hell do you mean ‘friendship’?!” Fuka objected. “Why would you want to be boring old friends when you can be so much more?”

“When you get a little older you’ll understand sometimes adults want things to be boring, Miss Fuka,” Artina explained with the same amusement as before. “Don’t you feel that we’ve all had more than enough excitement already?”

“After everything that’s happened lately?” Emizel checked. “Definitely.”

“But this is a totally different kind of excitement!” Though she protested, Fuka settled herself into a pout. “Are you seriously just going to friend-zone each other? Jeez, adults are super boring...”

“‘Friend-zone’?” Valvatorez questioned. “Is that some sort of new geo effect?”

Artina couldn’t help but chuckle, politely covering it though. “This is why I’m so happy you’re still my friend, Mr. Weirdo, you’re always so interesting!” He scowled slightly, but it didn’t stop her moving into an amiably close range. “I understand your worries such hypothetical feelings could make things awkward between us.” Artina’s clasped hands and sorrowful expression said she understood very well. “It’s easier to not have the matter brought up, so we can ignore that... idea. Especially as we’d be unable to do anything about our feelings if it were the case...” Fenrich watched how her eyes turned aside too, before she managed to cover it with a bright smile for Valvatorez. “But I do want you to know I wouldn’t mind if my Mr. Vampire did, hypothetically, have feelings for me, because I know we’re both mature and strong enough not to let it get in the way of our friendship.”

“Y-Yes!” he agreed, nodding a few too many times. “Indeed! If that _were_ the case we wouldn’t let it affect our friendship, which is far more important.”

“Big Sis,” a little voice interrupted, tugging on a prinny-coloured sleeve, “Desco can’t tell what’s going on. What does ‘hypi-thetical’ mean?”

“It means they’re lying because it makes them more comfortable,” Fuka asserted. “It’s obvious even Artina has feelings too – Why else would she call him ‘my Mr. Vampire’ like that?”

Artina chuckled, “No, Miss Fuka. That’s just...” She paused momentarily. “You see, angels are forbidden from associating with demons, so technically Mr. Vampire can’t be my friend. But if I call him ‘my vampire’ instead then I can get around that law.”

Dubious expressions filled the room. Valvatorez’s particularly had a slightly chary touch to it, “It makes him sound like a pet or something,” one Emizel’s evaluation matched.

“So you two are going to stay stubborn about this, huh?” Fuka cocked her hip as she looked at the two, only able to shake her head. “Well, don’t say I didn’t try to help.”

Feeling enough slack in the tension still binding him inside, “No one asked for your help, or even wanted it,” Fenrich lashed out. “It’s been nothing but a hindrance to Lord Valvatorez.”

The lass turned to him as if completely deaf to his words. “At least you admit you want to get it on with Valzy, Fenfen.”

“Wh-What?!”

“A forbidden romance between an angel and demon reunited after death would have been more exciting,” she continued, “but you’re pretty hot at least. I guess if this is a bust I don't mind going back to trying to get you and Valzy together.”

That tension seized him again, although uncertainly. Fenrich tried to cast a glance in his Lord’s direction, but he didn’t quite dare connect. “A-Are you serious?!”

“Miss Fuka,” Artina interrupted, a little adult gravity coming into her voice now. “We aren’t dolls you can play with like that.”

“Hey, I’m doing this for your sakes,” she insisted. “Valzy is obviously too awkward and weird to sort his love life out for himself, so someone has to help.”

Such impudence was always enough to override the moment. “What did you say about Lord Valvatorez, you damn bitch-?!”

“Fine!” Valvatorez sighed dramatically, covering his face briefly before revealing a pointed scowl. “If it’s the only way to get you off my case about this, Lass...” He strode across the bedroom to Fenrich’s side, answering the confused vocative he received by simply gesturing for Fenrich to lean down. Valvatorez took the lapels of Fenrich’s jacket with care, using them to guide Fenrich into kissing him.

“Ooh, Mr. Fenfen flies out of nowhere to take the gold at the last moment!” Desco cheered, as Fuka gasped.

“Wow, you’re picking Fenfen?” Fuka asked as the two men returned to their normal positions seemingly unfazed. “He was super obvious, but I never could figure out if you had feelings for him back.”

“Fenrich and I have no _‘feelings’_ of the romantic sort you’re implying for each other,” Valvatorez scorned, and Fenrich could easily nod. “We are comrades – We trust each other wholly, mentally and physically.”

“‘Physically’?” she questioned. “Wait, hold on.” Fuka clamped her hands over Desco’s ears, speaking over the small whines of protest, “Are the two of you...?”

“I don’t think I want to hear this either,” Emizel said, putting his own hands over his ears inside his hoodie.

Valvatorez rolled his eyes, spelling out in displeasure, “Fenrich and I have been bedding one another for centuries. Are you satisfied now, Lass, although this is none of your business?”

Fuka only frowned, ticking things over for a minute. Finally she worked out, “So... you have feelings for Artina but don’t want to sleep with her? But you don’t have feelings for Fenfen and yet sleep with him?”

He only glared, a hand on one hip and a certain darkness growing around him that suggested she was getting _very_ close to the edge of his patience.

Fuka released Desco’s ears, shaking her head dramatically. “Okay, that’s it – I. Give. Up,” she spelt out slowly. “You adults are way too stupid to even bother helping.” Emizel uncovered his ears just in time to hear, “I’ll just get started on Emizel early so he doesn’t end up like you when he grows up.”

“The hell you will!”

While the girls started advancing a little too ominously on the poor boy, “Even if you were inappropriately forced to admit it,” Artina said, her hands clasped happily with the smile normally reserved for financial opportunities, “I’m very happy for you, Mr. Vampire. And you, Mr. Werewolf, although I doubt you appreciate that.”

Indeed, Fenrich turned away with a scoff. Valvatorez kept his composure, despite a slight embarrassment. “You are?”

“Of course – Why did you think I was so interested in the relationship between you two?” she put to them.

“Well, I...” Valvatorez rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes, I suppose your intentions did seem genuine rather than of jealousy or the ilk.”

“You’re really not jealous?” Fuka entered back into the conversation curiously, leaving Desco to sit on the now-pinned Emizel so he couldn’t escape.

“So long as my Mr. Vampire is happy, then I’m happy too.”

Fuka frowned dubiously. “If you’re not jealous, and if you’re even able to be happy he’s with someone else...” After a moment of deduction, she startled back and levelled an accusing baseball bat. “I’ve got it! You must have been interested in someone else all along!”

“Wh-What?!” Artina flustered, the feathers of her wings fluffing out. “N-No, Miss Fuka, I’m not-!”

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Fenrich cut in slyly, gripping his waistband as he leant in. “She seemed awfully concerned with the well-being of that worthless maniac we defeated.”

“Oh yeah!” Fuka nodded along. “Earlier she said she’d been thinking only about Nemo all this time since becoming an angel.”

Artina fretted, turning to each face in the room to appeal for help. “H-He’s just a patient of mine! I’m not-!”

“Oh, you see,” Valvatorez joined in, hand to his chin and the tips of his fangs glinting, “personally I’d always considered Artina seemed far too dedicated to that Archangel of hers to be pure servitude.”

“Mr. Vampire, no!” She stomped a high-heeled shoe in complaint at him. “Don’t suggest such impure things about my Lady!”

“Yeah, that checks out,” Fuka declared sagely. “She acts towards Flonne just like Fenfen acts towards Valzy.”

“Don’t compare me to that subservient thief angel, you misunderstanding bitch,” Fenrich growled.

“My devotion is nothing like that!” Artina complained, her cheeks approaching the pink of her hair as she scrunched up in fluster.

Valvatorez chuckled, mentioning, “I see why you all did this to me now – This is fun!”

“I mean, a romance between an angel and a prinny isn’t really particularly A-class material,” Fuka judged, “but it was romantic how she saved him and all... Though, the idea of two angels getting down and dirty together’s not bad either...”

“Miss Fuka!” Artina was practically flinching in pain now at the emotional assault, or perhaps simply the thoughts it was putting in mind. “Nemo has his sins to pay off that he needs to focus on. And Lady Flonne already has a girlfriend, so-”

“Really?! Ooh, dish the deets!”

“Yay, Big Sis has a new love triangle to gossip about!” Desco cheered, still on Emizel who was paying as much attention as he could buried under heavy tentacles.

“In that case we know she likes girls,” Fuka continued, “so you’re definitely in with a shot. What’s this other chick like? I bet your breasts are bigger so you could get in there.”

Artina exclaimed as if melting from the mortification. “Please, everyone! My Lady is very happy with her girlfriend, even if Etna is a demon and she’s technically breaking the rules by being with her-”

Fuka punched the air happily. “A demon-angel-angel love triangle! This is even more spicy!”

“Noooo!” Artina couldn’t shake her head enough. “Stop making me think about my Lady so impurely!” She hopped into flight, sweeping out of the room and swiftly turning down the corridor outside.

“Desco!” Fuka called, pointing forth.

“Yes, Big Sis!” Desco got into position to let Fuka jump onto her back so they could fly out after her, Emizel being dragged along for the ride in one of Desco’s tentacles wailing all the way.

Valvatorez chuckled, relaxing somewhat. “Well, she’ll be back. Nemo will be arriving here before long, after all.”

“I really don’t know what she sees in him,” Fenrich tutted. “I mean, that beard...” He grimaced.

“Not all beards are so bad,” Valvatorez mentioned off-hand as he returned to his desk.

“My Lord?”

“Well, I didn’t want to say anything in front of Emizel,” he said as he sat, bringing over the prinny instruction schedules to finish revising, “but his father...”

“M-My Lord!” Fenrich’s tail went as stiff as a bottlebrush.

“I mean, Hugo was pretty hot anyway,” Valvatorez took his pen to the first sheet, “but he’s really grown into that whole ‘dad-bod’ look.”

“How do you know that term?!” Fenrich practically yipped. “Was it the lass? Do I need to kill her?” As Valvatorez’s only response was a small smile, “You... you aren’t serious, are you, Lord Val?”

Valvatorez picked his way over the schedule carefully, crossing out the final dates and inserting new ones with a small chuckle. “Maybe, maybe not.”

Fenrich watched his Lord rise from his seat, taking the modified schedule and heading for the door as well. His loyal vassal had to give chase, “Is that why you gave him that scarf? My Lord?” whining as he chased after his master’s heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Artina’s ending being the default makes the most narrative sense as it brings it all back to the promise of the game’s title. Fenrich’s ending is a little less narratively satisfying as it’s more a promise to do things together that the player doesn’t get to do/see. So we’re rolling with both having happened for this story.  
> Since Val doesn’t appear to have his power back in the post-game content, and still talks of needing to fulfil the promise in Disgaea 5’s DLC content which appears to be set after the main story of D4, it seems like he doesn’t actually start drinking blood again after the Artina ending. So I figured this made sense as to why.
> 
> Also, to reassure you, I’m not serious about Val and Hugo, but I do love their rivalry and respect for one another as well as loving Hugo as a character. I couldn’t resist trolling Fenrich at the end.


	2. Arrival and Abandonment

Valvatorez stood comfortably by as he watched the first two dozen new prinnies arrive through the dimension gate into Hades – More than usual, perhaps, but it wasn’t surprising a little bit of a backlog might have built up with all the fuss lately.

He raised an eyebrow as the next two dozen came through, becoming concerned as the flow of chattering Spheniscidae bodies never seemed to end.

He actually started to grow almost fretful as the final two dozen came through the portal, bumping and jostling as so many prinnies tried to occupy such a small landing space without falling into any of the lava pits. When Fenrich finally, gratefully, came through the gate behind the final one, “Fenrich-!”

“My Lord,” Fenrich was ready to answer, “I also informed Nino this is over three times our normal shipment. But in the aftermath of Fear the Great a large number of extra human souls passed on and ended up here in Hades; all prinny instructors have received this increase in numbers.”

Valvatorez sighed, but nodded. “I suppose it can’t be helped. We will simply have to adjust the schedules and supply orders accordingly.”

Fenrich bowed it would be taken care of. “You should also be aware, Lord Val, _he_ has arrived among this shipment.”

Looking back over the bobbing crowd, Valvatorez picked out the one red head he had had his suspicions about earlier. “Lead them to the normal place,” he simply ordered, sweeping on ahead to go find his little lecture box.

The normal opening lecture was delivered, to the normal protests quickly silenced by Fenrich. It was followed by the introduction of Prinny Rule No. 1 and Valvatorez’s test of having them tell him their names with the inclusion of ‘dood’ in their sentences.

As he stepped down from his box to begin, “Oh, Fenrich.” He had little need to beckon, his steward already right at his side. “Would you go and bring Artina here?”

“Her?” Not to protest his Lord’s orders, but... well.

“I believe she has a right to know.” He simply nodded in the direction of that one red prinny lurking in quiet guilt at the back.

Fenrich resisted objecting, supposing he could see the reason.

He took no pleasure at all in stalking through the halls to the Infirmary, her usual haunt, and felt no need to answer her questions about where he wanted her to follow to or why. She came anyway, Valvatorez halfway through the second row of prinnies as Fenrich leant himself back against one of the walls and simply jerked his head in the direction for her to look.

Artina obediently looked, watching Valvatorez for too long as she puzzled over what she was supposed to be seeing, before finally settling upon it. She stared for quite a while, before she chuckled politely into one hand. “He still has his beard.”

“I know,” Fenrich tutted, glaring at that shock of blond hair ringing Nemo’s beak. “Particularly strong spirits distort any prinny hides they’re put into.”

“Will he still remember everything?” she asked. “Most of the prinnies seem to lose their individual human personalities.”

“They’re weak trash, that’s why,” he answered. “If he’s strong enough to distort his hide, he won’t have lost anything in the process.”

Artina turned back to look on at Nemo. Fenrich had noticed Nemo had spotted her but only allowed himself to look on at her for a moment before forcing his gaze away before she ever noticed.

Valvatorez continued, passing the end of the second row to begin on the third. With three more rows still to go after that, Fenrich turning to picking out the dirt from under his claws in disinterest.

“Does Mr. Vampire always instruct such big classes? The graduating class at the party seemed much smaller.”

Fenrich glared at the woman who hadn’t taken the hint she’d finished the purpose she’d been brought here for. “Thanks to that whole Fear the Great episode, the number of human souls passing on to the Netherworld tripled overnight. Yet another way in which Lord Valvatorez is forced to clean up that idiotic maniac’s mistakes.”

“These are all...?” Artina looked over the prinnies, horrified with sorrow. “If only... If I had tried harder to help him...”

“Though there is a lot to be blamed on your shoulders, thief angel, that fool wouldn’t have listened however hard you tried,” Fenrich said.

Her hands still clasped in prayer before her stomach, her gaze downturned, Artina found the strength to lift it up again. “What’s done is done. All we can do now is help their souls the best we can,” she said practically, forcing on a smile.

He scoffed, returning to cleaning his nails.

It was most annoying that Lord Valvatorez would probably say the same.

~DOOD~

The universe really had a lovely way of thanking them for their help, dumping on top of the extra prinnies all these strange phenomena. One particularly strange one even might have been a different netherworld all together they ended up in, but Valvatorez got a new sardine curry recipe out of that incident so he couldn’t complain. And all this wasn’t to mention the lass continuing to make a nuisance of herself, seeming to be plotting something as she watched the properly obedient prinnies working hard to pay off their sins.

Fenrich quickly came to truly relish the mornings, or whatever time in their disrupted nocturnal schedules, he could fall into the black sheets of the large, four-posted bed in Lord Valvatorez’s bedroom and wrap himself protectively around his Lord, safe in sleep. His own bed in the adjoining room barely saw use anymore, Valvatorez having made it clear enough during all the recent events he was glad to share his bed with Fenrich even when they weren’t engaging in any other _activities_ before sleep. By this point, Fenrich didn’t even need to dare himself to climb in that bed without an explicit beckoning; maybe, like Lord Valvatorez, he could even bring himself to start calling it ‘their bed’.

He was welcome there, wanted, just as himself rather than for anything he could bring. And no one else was. No matter what happened during the day, here it was just the two of them; he had all of Lord Valvatorez’s attention to himself.

The dusk twilight that would come through the barred windows often stirred Fenrich first each evening, the touch of moonlight in it like dawn to diurnal creatures. The coolness of the small body in his arms reassured his instincts before he even opened his sleepy eyes to ink-black hair, nuzzling his face down into it peacefully. Both of his arms were wrapped around Valvatorez’s slim chest, tucked tight under the arms that held his loosely, the rest of their bodies curled together like spoons. Fenrich could feel his tail twitching happily as it awoke too.

And then he felt the small movements of the body in his arms. Infrequently, Valvatorez was flexing his limbs, tensing for a moment before relaxing peacefully into the movements.

Ah. Fenrich’s hand moved down gently between his Lord’s legs, allowing the hips to subtly roll against it on instinct.

Fenrich caressed the soft flesh slowly, taking his time to run over each favourited spot in every motion and to slide his own growing erection between the crux of Valvatorez’s legs. Even as his need grew, it was comfortable there pressed in the squeeze of those slim thighs, the soft curve of buttocks fitting perfectly into the dip of his hipbones.

The rest of Valvatorez awakened with a hum of contentment, arms beginning to move and a relieved sigh escaping in sleepiness. Fenrich happily continued-

“Ah!” Until Valvatorez violently jerked himself away, half-lying and half-sitting gracelessly in the sheets he wildly looked around, before settling on Fenrich’s taken aback face. “F-Fenrich, I...”

“My Lord?”

Valvatorez forcibly swallowed the rest that had stuck in his throat, smiling again. “My a-apologies, I was simply- Yes, startled!” Fenrich’s raised eyebrow said he was never usually startled by such intimacies. “I was, erm, dreaming. O-Of something else, that is. Reality simply startled me a little.” He covered his face with one hand, eyes closed as he willed himself to calm.

“Oh? What were you dreaming about, my Lord?” Fenrich pulled himself closer in almost a slink, the golden twinkle in his eyes suggesting he suspected the subject matter at least.

“N-Nothing in particular...”

Fenrich’s mouth had now reached Valvatorez’s slightly blushing ear. “I can’t make it come true for you, Lord Val, if you don’t furnish me with the details.”

“That...” He forced himself to swallow. “That will not be necessary, Fenrich.”

“What were you imagining me doing to you?”

Valvatorez ignored the fangs nibbling lightly along his ear. “No, I...”

“Oh? What were you imagining doing to me then?”

This time Valvatorez simply kept his lips pressed shut, staring away awkwardly. Even when Fenrich’s fangs stilled, head retreating to look at Valvatorez, his Lord couldn’t turn his face.

“...Lord Val?”

“It’s nothing,” he wanted to claim. “Let us leave it and hope...”

A strong arm held his chest gently, keeping him from escape. “Even if it’s something you don’t wish to say, or that I won’t want to hear, you must tell me, my Lord. You can’t let yourself remain troubled by something as meagre as a dream.”

A difficult smile came onto Valvatorez’s face, and he could look at Fenrich to say, “You are right, Fenrich, as you often are. I don’t ever wish to have to keep anything from you. I...” He curled a hand in front of his face as he looked away, one much smaller-looking without the usual defences of his gloves. “It... was not a dream about you...”

Fenrich pulled away enough Valvatorez almost seemed to flinch from the coolness of the new space between them. Mind reeling, “Was it...?” Fenrich began a question he didn’t think he wanted the answer to.

“...Artina.”

Fenrich stared. His clawed hands clenched. His stomach sank back into cold tension. Focusing in hope on the pain in Valvatorez’s expression, “Was it welcome?” he was glad his voice came out hollow, instead of the bitter it might have.

“Wel-?! No, on my word as a proud and noble demon, it was not!” He had to pull the bedclothes up over his mortified face just thinking of it. “Artina and I are friends! We’re friends!”

Hopefully Valvatorez was more convinced by his own words than Fenrich was. “So you have no interest in the real act?

“I-I...” Valvatorez stammered and blushed himself into silence, shaking his head strongly as if trying to force away the invading thoughts. “Fenrich, I promise you that-”

“No,” he put a quick stop to that.

“No?” Valvatorez was quite fairly surprised.

Fenrich realised himself, and considered it for a moment, before sticking to the fact that, “Promises involving that woman never work out well.”

Well, “Ah...” Valvatorez had to curl up where he sat slightly awkwardly, “I suppose that could be said...”

Holding his tongue on a number of potential comments, “I blame that worthless, infuriating lass and her insistences on romance for putting the subject into your mind,” Fenrich turned his anger on instead.

Seizing on an explanation. “Indeed! Yes, that must be the origin, Fenrich!” Valvatorez nodded.

“If it truly isn’t something you actually want.”

Valvatorez hesitated, “I-It’s not, Fenrich. It’s not,” sticking uncertainly to that.

Fenrich’s golden eyes watched sharply for a moment, as his Lord sat in naked consternation, before he turned himself away to throw off the covers and leave Lord Valvatorez’s bed.

~DOOD~

As dawn broke, many of the demons of Hades headed off lazily towards their beds, nests, graves and what-have-you. Even in this nocturnal world, on the days she was unneeded Artina kept the diurnal schedule of Celestia and rose from her assigned bedroom to socialise with the weaker demons who stuck to the cover of day, to play with Fuka and Desco or else to head out a little collection pilgrimage of her own.

Morning and evening she shared with the rest of the Hades party, the mostly diurnal patterns of the three girls meeting with the mostly nocturnal patterns of the three demon boys.

In the depths of nights when there was no mission or call upon the party she would retire to the simple, converted prison cell she called home here. Compared to the soft, clean furnishings of Celestia, the plain stone walls and battered wooden furniture under the subtle, dark haze that permeated the entirety of the Netherworld realm were far more reminiscent of life as a nun in the Human World. It made it somehow easier, even in this setting, to settle beside her small bed on her knees to pray.

_Dear God..._

Her eyes closed, Artina exhaled as she calmly waited for that feeling of utter connection. A smile flitted lightly on her lips as she continued waiting, amusement that apparently the literal extra distance between here and there did make a difference in connection speed.

The smile began to falter though slowly, swallowing as she kept herself calm.

_God?_

Her palms pressed a little more firmly together, Artina forced herself to let go of the tension that had built in her expression.

_Um, thank You again for yet another day in which I and those important to me have been able to enjoy the bounties of Your protection and generosity._

Artina’s knees shifted slightly on the stone floor, posture remaining resolute though.

_Thank You for the forgiveness You show to the prinnies Mr. Vampire trains when their sins are atoned for. I am grateful that Nemo can continue to work towards redeeming his soul to make this world a better one for all living beings._

This time she cleared her throat very softly.

_Um, God?_

Artina waited patiently, trying to calm her small frown.

_God, please allow me to find Your wisdom within the Fear the Great system. I will continue my searching, because I know if You created it there must be wisdom within it._

Her eyes wanted to crack open, but she forced them to remain shut.

_I-I trust in Your design for this universe, oh God. I trust in Your benevolence, even though I currently struggle to find it in these systems I have seen laid bare recently._

Almost a slight sheen of sweat had appeared between her clasped palms as she continued to pray.

_Was a system for total destruction truly necessary to build into this world? Were this many souls, on Earth and the other planets it was activated on, truly an unavoidable sacrifice even for Your great power?_

Artina did open her eyes this time when she could no longer keep them closed, turning them as heavenward as she could.

_God?_

“Hey, you.”

She blinked only slightly in recognition of the sudden interruption, turning to Fenrich stood unconcerned for privacy in her open doorway.

The sneer on his face was clear, regarding her clasped hands from afar. “Asking your ‘God’ for favours?”

“Guidance,” she answered a little cagily, rising to her feet.

Fenrich scoffed. “Prayer is for those too weak to sort things out for themselves,” he bitterly scorned, refusing to even enter any further into her room. “You obedient sheep in Celestia make me sick.”

Artina’s hands clasped in a different form now, one around the other like loose fists as she averted her face downwards.

“Another one of those strange phenomena has appeared,” he finally made his purpose clear. “Come and keep those idiotic pups from getting themselves killed.” That was all he could bear to stay for, walking away once his piece was said.

“Y-Yes...”

Artina looked at her bed once again, at its wooden frame scuffed and even clawed in a couple of places. A nasty little nest of splinters were clustered around one of the claw marks, and she reached out to run her fingertip over them until she flinched back slightly, blood drawn.

“Heal.”

The cool softness of healing magic still enveloped the wound, light bathing away any sign the skin had once been damaged. She smiled softly, hearing the cheerful laugh of her Lady Archangel in her mind.

_I still have my faith in My Lady, and I want to continue to have faith in You as well, oh God._

Turning her gaze heavenward once more.

_Was I wrong to fight against Your system, oh God? I followed what I believed my responsibilities to be, but is this silence Your displeasure with me?_

_Is this... a test of my faith? Do I need to prove I am still worthy even without Your direct guidance?_

Artina clasped her hands one final time in prayer.

_Please, oh God, don’t allow me to lose my faith in You. I don’t know what I would do without You._

_Please, do not forsake me, God._

_Amen._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reference to another netherworld and sardine curry is the D5 DLC scenario for these three. And the line about Fuka was a reference to the Fuka and Desco DLC, in case you haven’t played either.
> 
> Let’s pretend most of the post-game and DLC content happens sometimes around here, to get it out of the way. It won’t be referenced much, but there’s a few nods to it here and there in future chapters, just in case you haven’t played it yet.


	3. Prinnies and Problems

He couldn’t refuse Lord Valvatorez’s beckoning to share his bed, both as a loyal servant and also from his own desires.

Even now Fenrich attempted to take the same pleasure in it as ever, to not think and try to hope. He trusted Lord Valvatorez absolutely, without hesitation or one single shred of doubt, but given his master’s formidable naivety and power to be deluded even by himself...

Fenrich started becoming unsure whether he preferred to have their intercourse facing one another, the content joy of those moments when his Lord’s eyes were open and on him alone but then the wondering whom Valvatorez was thinking about when they were closed. Or to not be facing one another, to be free from that dilemma now.

Valvatorez didn’t need to speak when he would wake up startled and flustered, however much he attempted to suppress the entire reaction. Fenrich allowed it, played along with it, for his Lord’s sake and his own.

It was infrequent.

But it wasn’t stopping.

~DOOD~

“Line up! Single-file now, and I want no pushing, pecking or exploding today, understand?” Valvatorez instructed the horde of prinnies practically vibrating for their daily sardine.

Artina watched quietly from the dining hall entranceway, tucked up petitely against the side of its stone arch, with a smile at all the eager squabbling just like little children queuing in a school dinner hall.

Of course all the way at the back though, by self-relegation, that lone red head was downcast, as ever. In guilty silence, it always tried to attract as little attention as possible while the other prinnies chattered and celebrated another day’s training completed.

She waited the entire length of the line for him, watching over his quiet shuffling forward and eventual acceptance of a single sardine. As ever, he wasn’t like the other prinnies who waddled just a few steps away to begin noshing then and there straight from their flippers; he always tucked it into his pouch, slinking away and heading for the room’s nearest exit to eat all alone in the corridor.

Preferring to avoid the attention of all the dining prinnies and other demons making use of the hall, she hopped into flight to take the long path around to that far corridor. Despite the bars and chains, Hades remained a fast structure to navigate once you knew its twisting maze of corridors and halls, at least if you could simply fly through them all.

Even by the time she reached him though- “I thought you wanted to pay us back.”

“Don’t you think we deserve it after you got us all killed?”

“You gonna attack us again?” A small group of prinnies had encircled him, leaving no escape.

Nemo said nothing, face downturned with his flippers wrapped around his little pouch.

“You can’t run and hide behind Valvatorez now,” the prinnies continued.

“Just hand over your sardine, it’s not hard-”

“Enough.” Artina landed and stood above them all, causing the prinnies to startle rigidly as they turned to her. “Head back to the dining hall and leave that prinny alone,” Her high heels clicked as she stepped forward enough to properly loom over them, “unless you want me to tell Lord Valvatorez you aren’t including ‘dood’ in your sentences.”

“N-No, dood!”

“We’ll go back right away, dood!”

“Don’t tell him, dood!”

Wooden peg legs scattered and scrambled for the doorway, leaving just Artina and that one red prinny, the distant chatter and light of the dining hall a different world to this shadowed, lonely corridor.

“Are you all right, Nemo?” She crouched, even though at standard prinny height he wasn’t ridiculously shorter than her anyway. “Were they bullying you again?”

“Yes. Th-Thank you, Artina.” He’d retained his voice as well, as strange as it was coming from that beak now. “I don’t deserve the way you keep saving me like this...”

“There’s nothing to deserve or not – I want to help you because I care about you.”

His face hadn’t managed to look up at her. “I... can’t believe you still care about me, after all I’ve done...”

She smiled sadly, hoping he would look at her even once. “Were they trying to take your sardine from you?” she changed the subject when he didn’t.

“They do that...” he admitted.

“They say that you deserve it because of what happened with Fear the Great?”

Nemo remained silent in guilt, still only holding his pouch without having made a move to eat the sardine inside.

“It’s their fault they were sent to the Netherworld after they died, if nothing else,” she reminded him. “And you weren’t the one who activated the program, God did; you were only the trigger, Nemo.”

His stare continued glumly downward into the shadows of the floor. “I was the reason the human world contained so much malice though, enough for it to activate. I made it like it is over the past few centuries, manipulating the Netherworld President and the leaders of the human world.”

She cocked her head over onto one side, her smile sad. “Did you know about Fear the Great? Before it activated, I mean.”

“No, I had no clue that...”

“Well,” she said, “then I believe you can’t truly be held responsible for it, even if unintentionally you are to blame. You didn’t know what would happen, nor were you the one to activate it, so really the responsible party is...” Artina trailed off awkwardly, face frowning in concern as she realised what she would have to say. “What I mean is, you shouldn’t feel bullied by what those other prinnies say; you did do something wrong, but you’re working to repay it, just as they are.”

“Maybe,” Nemo said, too deep in his own sadness to let himself really agree, “but I wanted something like that to happen to the human world, when I was so angry and pained. At the time, what was left of me that was still in control, I was glad it happened, Artina.”

“You weren’t yourself, Nemo,” she urged him to believe.

“‘Myself’?” His plain prinny eyes finally looked at her, the same sky blue as his human eyes. “I spent so many centuries like that who’s to say that’s not the real me now...?”

Puffing out her cheeks slightly in irritation, Artina simply opted for reaching out to grab some of his prinny hide around his ‘cheek’, pulling it before letting it snap back hard enough to hurt. “Stop feeling so sorry for yourself already. Do you think that’s going to make anyone you hurt feel any better?”

“I-I...” He flustered, rubbing his sore cheek before laughing at the serious look on her face. “Heh, you’re right, as ever... I keep wondering if I even deserve this second chance Valvatorez gave me, but in that case the worst thing I can do is wallow around and waste it.”

“Exactly,” she cheered back up to hear him say that. “Now, are you going to eat that sardine up before you forget about it?”

“Oh, right.” Nemo finally flipped open the flap of his pouch, one flipper rummaging around inside until he triumphantly pulled it out. Taking it in both flippers, he held it before him and stared down his beak, its dead fish eyes staring into his.

“Do sardines taste good now you’re a prinny?” Artina cocked her head over curiously, watching.

“Strangely, yes,” Nemo answered in a lighter tone. “I expected it to be disgusting, eating raw fish whole, but it doesn’t seem to bother me like this.”

She watched him lift it up to his beak, inserting the head and then tilting back to let it slide straight down, “You make less mess eating them than Mr. Vampire does...” murmuring as he swallowed strongly before patting his white tummy. “Better?”

“Nothing makes food taste better than only getting to eat once a day. I guess that’s how they make us so grateful for one lousy sardine.”

She chuckled. “Well, don’t expect any kisses now your mouth tastes of fish.” She tapped a teasing finger on his beak.

He put his flippers over the spot, “A-Artina...” red hide likely hiding much of his reaction. “I don’t think I could k-kiss you anyway in this form...”

She met his dejection with a hopeful smile, content to just crouch and look at him in this peaceful, unhindered moment.

He stubbed his peg legs against the floor as he held her gaze, or the best their mutual slight embarrassment could allow, also happy with nothing more than the time and space to be together.

Far down the corridor, in their own space together at its opening archway, “Ah, she’s with him,” Valvatorez said, voice calm as if his murmur was more an acknowledgement to himself.

“What do you suppose they’re up to together?” Fenrich’s narrowed eyes could see clearly through the corridor’s gloom, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Simply spending time together, I imagine,” Valvatorez continued calmly. “I suppose she probably didn’t get much time to back before...”

Fenrich frowned at the sunken, quiet expression on Valvatorez’s face, lips pulling back on one side in a silent snarl. “If he’s finished eating his sardine, he ought to be assigned his work for today’s final shift.”

“H-Huh?” Valvatorez blinked back to attention, red eyes going quite wide before they settled back to normal. “Oh. Yes, indeed, Fenrich. I’ll...” He trailed off again looking at Artina and Nemo together. “Will you see to it for me? I need to... I’ll go and see to the other prinnies.”

Fenrich dutifully bowed, “All is for my Lord,” allowing Valvatorez to take his leave back into the dining hall. Face falling into a scowl once unobserved, Fenrich wasted no time before stalking down the corridor to the other two chatting in that little world of their own, “Hey, you sinful trash,” causing them both to look round at his call. “Get back to work already. How do you expect to pay off all those sins standing around chatting?”

“I-I’m sorry, Sir Fenrich,” Nemo drew himself up deferentially. “You’re quite right. What’s my assignment for the rest of today? Uh, dood?”

Fenrich tutted at such unpunishable obedience. “Go... clean out the lower level cells, the ones the sludges and zombies are kept in.” He tossed his head for Nemo to get going already.

Those short, wooden legs trotted away quickly, leaving just Fenrich glaring down at Artina as she watched Nemo go. “You’re not having him clean toilets for once?” she asked, a little facetiously, as she finally turned to Fenrich instead.

“With all these damn prinnies this time there aren’t enough toilets to go around – Even in the Netherworld they only get so dirty.”

She actually smiled with amusement.

He only continued to scowl at her. Fenrich didn’t actually say anything though, wavering too torn back and forth in his head, before stalking away from her with a growl.

Artina watched him go, cocking her head over to one side, but could only shake it without answers in the end.

~DOOD~

He’d had one of those dreams again.

Even when Fenrich didn’t notice anything unusual whilst in bed together, he could tell from his Lord’s waking behaviour all too well. The distraction, the weariness, the groans and bitten lips whenever he allowed his mind to drift to its troubles...

And particularly-

“Mr. Vampire?”

-whenever Valvatorez had to interact with _her_.

“A-A-Artina!” The feared and worshiped former Tyrant jumped at as little as the sight of her flying down the corridor towards them. “Why, um, this is... C-Can I do something for you, as a friend and ally?”

Fenrich tried not to roll his eyes too hard. Even she seemed to notice his ridiculously affected behaviour, cocking her head for a moment, before returning to normal. “Are you aware Nemo is getting bullied by the other prinnies?”

“O-Oh, this is about Nemo?” Valvatorez said, voice arching too far up and down as he tried to decide how to feel about that. “I wasn’t aware, no,” he finally spoke more calmly.

“They blame him for getting them killed by Fear the Great, and try to extort his sardines from him,” she continued. “I’ve also seen them attempting to guilt him into doing their work for them by the same methods.”

“I understand. This is indeed a grave injustice, that they are not only interfering in his attempts to redeem himself but also neglecting their own!” He threw out his cape in declaration. “Thank you, Artina. You have my word I will see to this matter immediately.”

“Thank you, Mr. Vampire.” She clasped her hands together before her waist, her smile enough to cause Valvatorez to avert his gaze slightly sideways. “It makes me so sad to see him suffering like that, particularly after how he was mistreated by his own countrymen when he was a human too. I know he has to atone for his sins, but I hate to see him sad nonetheless.”

Evaluating how quickly her face had returned to sadness at just the thought, “Artina, you...” Valvatorez hesitantly willed himself to ask, “What is the exact nature of your, um...?” but pulled himself back, casting his gaze uncomfortably down when her pure eyes looked at him.

Again, Artina couldn’t help but cock her head at him.

Fenrich forced his eyes away from them both, gritting his teeth hard enough to feel it in his jaw.

“Yes, Mr. Vampire?” she tried to prompt.

Waving a hand dismissively before him. “N-No, it’s nothing...” Valvatorez sighed.

Such a painfully pitiful sound. “If your business is concluded then get going,” Fenrich snapped. “My Lord is a busy demon.” He glared at her, at the one who was the reason such a noble demon was now the sort to make such sounds.

The impudent angel merely glared right back. When she turned to Valvatorez it was all suddenly sweetness and smiles again though, of course. “Mr. Vampire, if you don’t mind me asking, you seem a little troubled by something today. Are you unwell?”

“Nonsense! I don’t get ‘unwell’,” he scorned, and remembering the whole A-Virus incident she was actually willing to believe that for him. “I’m simply, er, that is...”

Artina smiled, crossing one leg in front of her. “Is it something to do with me?”

“N-NO! No, what in Hades would make you think that?!” Valvatorez rushed out at a high pitch. Fenrich couldn’t hide his second-hand embarrassment as a vassal, and she didn’t bother to hide her scepticism either. “I-I simply... need to eat some sardines, yes! B vitamins are vitally important for the nervous system, and sardines are exceptionally rich in vitamin B12 particularly!”

The former nurse stepped forward close enough Valvatorez actually leant back from her, despite the three feet of space still between them. “This seems more like nerves than the whole nervous system, Mr. Vampire.”

“N-No, I-!”

“Get away from my Lord, bitch,” Fenrich growled, a clawed hand shooting out to block the air between them. “You’re obstructing his important duties. Why don’t you do something useful yourself and get lost?”

Artina pulled back, pouting, but evaluating Valvatorez seemed to accept the general gist and stepped back. “Okay then, Mr. Vampire, Mr. Werewolf. I’ll see you around <3!” Turning, she waved them goodbye over her shoulder as she took flight again, swooping away back down the corridor.

The animalistic growl in Fenrich’s throat didn’t die until she was completely out of sight, when he finally felt safe to put his arm down and turn to his Lord.

Valvatorez was stood almost tucked in on himself, gloved hands clasped to his chest, and downturned face lost in a painfully miserable expression.

“Lord Val...”

“We said we wouldn’t let it affect our friendship...” Valvatorez spoke in a small voice, hushed by shame. “I can’t let her find out, Fenrich.”

“I agree it would be... very bad were anyone else to learn about this.” He scowled to think of one irritating, idiotic individual in particular.

“I don’t want to have these damn dreams about her,” Valvatorez stressed, suppressing a shudder by wrapping his cape around himself. “I don’t want these blasted feelings and thoughts that come up whenever I see her now. All I want is to be her friend, Fenrich!”

Fenrich pulled a slight face, but the distraught strain Valvatorez’s voice had taken on as he covered himself was enough for him to push that issue aside. “Lord Val...”

“I can’t take it anymore, Fenrich!”

Stood patiently by, Fenrich took a deep breath as he pressed his eyes tightly shut in thought. “My Lord,” he calmly began, “we will find a solution to this; you shouldn’t allow yourself to become so worked up over what are nothing more than subconscious imaginings. The subconscious mind can be perverse-”

Valvatorez startled back in shock.

“That was an unfortunate word to use in this situation,” Fenrich admitted. “I meant that the mind is often traitorous, fixating on the unhealthy and undesired in the form of intrusive thoughts.”

“Yes! Yes, you’re right indeed, Fenrich.” Valvatorez nodded more cheerfully. “I always thought myself too in control to fall prey to such mental weakness, but perhaps with the strain of everything we have taken on lately while I am still so far from my full strength...”

“Exactly, my Lord.” Fenrich leant forward a little more keenly. “The suggestions of that idiotic lass must have planted the initial seed which has taken root in your weakened state. Lord Val, you must not allow these dreams or that woman to affect you so; fear only gives the thoughts more power over you.”

“Yes! I must restore my mental fortitude.”

“To that end,” Fenrich continued, “you should probably avoid that woman as much as possible.” That Valvatorez looked conflicted about. “Until you have regained control of yourself further exposure will only worsen the issue.”

Though still frowning, “...There is wisdom in your words, Fenrich, even if I hate to spurn an ally in such fashion.”

“We will cure you of these unhealthy thoughts, my Lord, have no fear,” Fenrich pressed on. “Allow me to liaise with her in the meantime, if we must communicate with her for any reason.” While Valvatorez was still concerned elsewhere in thought, Fenrich took a moment to slyly grin before slipping in the final piece. “I have a plan for dealing with the situation I will also undertake at the same time, to make sure our success is secured.”

“A plan? What can you do about all this, Fenrich?” Valvatorez enquired.

“You trust me, don’t you, my Lord?”

“Of course.”

“Then simply leave it all to me,” Fenrich smoothly urged. “Now, let’s go get you some sardines.”

“Yes, sardines!” Valvatorez jumped and punched the air. “They are just what I require to begin the restoration of my mental fortitude! Lead on, Fenrich!”

Fenrich bowed, “All is for my Lord,” shaking his head with amusement as Valvatorez didn’t even wait as he had said, leading on himself at the thought of sardines. He followed, tail swishing happily, “Soon, you won’t ever have to worry about that thief angel ever again...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, but how dirty do Netherworld toilets get that prinnies can always be assigned to clean them?   
> Prinny training fascinates me way more than it should. And I wish we had gotten more Prinny-Nemo in the post-game, having him and Kurtis being odd-coloured prinny bros and hearing Nemo having to say 'Dood' in all his lines.
> 
> Anyway, now Fenrich is in full-on scheming mode, so the real fun can start to begin.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be updating this infrequently when I can, so stay subscribed and I'll try to get each chapter out before you've forgotten what happened in the last one. 
> 
> It's going to be about 17 chapters in total, if things follow my current plan, and I've got over half written but I'm juggling it with [my other Disgaea fic.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24542341/chapters/59260945)


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